Syracuse Newspaper Slams Use of “Independent” in New York Ballot Measure Description

A Syracuse Post-Standard editorial criticized New York state’s Board of Elections for using “independent” in the official ballot language describing a proposed commission to redraw legislative lines after each census. Noting that the four leaders of the state legislature will appoint eight members and that those legislative appointees will choose the remaining two members of the supposedly independent commission, the editorial calls the commission “nothing of the sort.” The Post-Standard also notes that the “commission of 10 is almost guaranteed to deadlock” and that “(i)n the event it does, the proposed constitutional amendment puts redistricting in the hands of -- guess who -- the Legislature.”